1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to weightlifting apparatus, and more specifically relates to a weight stand for free weights.
2. Background Art
A conventional gym or other weightlifting facility may contain both weight machines and free weights, both of which are widely used for weight training purposes. Weight machines are characterized by weight stacks constrained to travel back and forth along a track. In general, weightlifters do not directly manipulate, or have direct contact with, the weights of a weight machine, instead contacting bars or plates that are connected by pulleys and cables to the weight stacks. Weight machines offer built-in stability, as well as a certain measure of safety, but they lack the flexibility, freedom, and range available with free weights, so called because they are not constrained in their movement to a single plane or track as weights on a weight machine are. Rather, they are free to be moved through the entire range of motion of which the weightlifter is capable.
Free weights include barbells and dumbbells, and generally comprise one or more pairs of weighted disks, plates, spheres, or the like attached in balanced fashion to a bar that is directly grasped by a user. The word “dumbbell” is conventionally used, and will be used herein, to refer to a free weight having a relatively short bar designed to be  grasped with one hand and lifted with one arm alone. (Barbells generally have longer bars meant to be lifted with both arms.) There exist various devices intended to assist weightlifters with the use of dumbbells. Some of these provide a way to select the position at which the dumbbells are presented to the weightlifter at the beginning of an exercise and stored after an exercise set is completed. This positioning is important for reasons of stability, safety, and efficiency, among other reasons. Some exercises, for example, are performed with the dumbbells in the region of the torso and head. Getting the dumbbells to that position requires energy to be expended. If an exercise set is begun immediately after raising the dumbbells into position, the energy expended will not be available for that exercise set. Similarly, after the completion of an exercise set the muscles worked will be fatigued, and less able to carefully manipulate the dumbbells. Weight stands and the like provide a convenient place to set the weights when they're not in use that is easier and safer than dropping them to the floor.
Dumbbells lend themselves nicely to various types of lifting exercises, whether performed from a standing position, on a flat bench, on an inclined or declined bench, or from some other position. Different weightlifting positions, as well as different exercises, require the dumbbells to be presented to the weightlifter at various heights above the floor or weight bench. Existing weight stands are flawed in that they may not easily be adjusted from one height to another, and in that they do not provide secure support for multiple dumbbells while allowing the weights to be easily retrieved and replaced. This means that, among other drawbacks, existing weight stands cannot handle the various kinds of exercises one may wish to perform with free weights. 